Oliver Zeter Sauvignon Blanc Fumé

Oliver Zeter is a fantastic producer based in the Pfalz, Germany. Brothers Christian and Oliver Zeter bottled their first vintage in 2007 and have already earned themselves a place in the wine world. Oliver specialises in Sauvignon Blanc and demonstrates the flexibility of this grape through interesting, exciting examples of oaked, sparkling and sweet wines.

For this, his top Sauvignon, grapes come from his oldest vines and most propitiously sited vineyards. They are picked by hand into small containers, crushed and pressed and then fermented – no added yeast – in new French oak barrels. The wine is certainly ripe but keeps its zip thanks to suppressed malolactic conversion. The wine is then kept on fine lees in tank until being bottled the summer after the harvest.

Jancis Robinson: ‘A very serious Sauvignon with some honeysuckle and weight but quite enough freshness. Green grassy aromas before the richness imbued by the winemaking kicks in. Very appetising. When Germany produces a really interesting, well-balanced Sauvignon, you know the wine world is truly changing and we all have to run to keep up. A hint of reduction is encouraged. Quite a long finish.